


On the Topic of Handholding

by punkrockloser



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Children, College, Fluff, Growing Up, High School, Holding Hands, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Pre-Slash, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5856121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkrockloser/pseuds/punkrockloser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five instances of handholding throughout their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Topic of Handholding

**Author's Note:**

> So if you're coming back to this work wondering when the next part in the series is coming out, I'm sorry to say I'll no longer be doing that. This is just going to act as a stand-alone piece. If this is your first time reading this, I hope you like it.

“It’s hot today,” Link said as he continued to pile sand on top of his own legs. Rhett didn’t pause in his trench-digging to comment, “Well duh, it’s almost summer!”

Link laughed. “Oh yeah.” He stood up, shaking all the sand off his legs and out of his khaki shorts, then trudged over to sit down next to his friend and watch him dig in the sand with the stick he’d picked up underneath the big tree earlier. “I’m happy school is almost through, then we’ll have even _more_ time to play with each other!”

Rhett sat back on his heels and smiled, looking over at Link. “Yeah! You can come over to my house and we can play swords!” he said enthusiastically, sticking his hands straight up in the air on the word ‘swords’ for added emphasis. He dropped the stick suddenly and said, “I’m done with the sandbox, let’s go over to the swings before recess ends.”

Rhett grabbed Link’s hand before the boy could say anything and pulled him up with him as he stood. They ran over across the playground together, hand in hand and giggling wildly, Rhett only dropping Link’s hand when they stood next to the metal poles of the swing set. There was only one of the three swings left open, and Link didn’t want to ask the other kids if one of them would get off. He had learned his lesson when he’d asked one of the fourth graders if they would let him on and the boy had gotten angry, then acted real scary when Link had demanded he share the swing.

Before he could tell Rhett he would let him go first, Rhett said, “Since you’re the smallest, you can swing first,” and had pulled him by the hand to the blue seat to show Link that there was no arguing about this. “And I’ll push you!”

Link felt Rhett’s hands hard on his back every time he swung backwards, and it wasn’t long before he was shouting, “Higher!” when he got bored.

“Hey, I’m not _that_ strong,” Rhett said, but he did push harder than before.

Link went higher into the sky for only a couple more swings, and then called out a sharp, “Hey!” when his chains were grabbed and he slowed to a stop. Rhett came around to stand in front of him, his hands still on the chains. “Why’d you stop me?” Link asked, pouting a little, shoulders slumped.

Rhett giggled. “You look funny,” he commented. “But I wanted to do something. Here, look.” He then started to twist the chains, turning Link in the seat around and around. He made about four turns and held the swing still once Link was facing him again. “I’ll let go, and you’ll turn around and around and around and around!” he explained.

“Okay, well what if—” Link started to asked uncertainly, but was cut off by his own laughter when Rhett let go without warning and he twisted around quickly. “I’m going so fast!” he shouted through his high-pitched laughter. When the swing finally stopped, they were both in hysteric giggles, and Link could hardly focus his eyes on one thing. “Gosh, I’m so dizzy!”

A whistle went off to call the kids back from recess, and Link looked over at the school to see which teacher had blown it. “Oh, it’s our class,” he said, getting off the swing and turning to Rhett. He looked a little upset that he didn’t get his chance on the swings. “It’s okay, Rhett,” he consoled, grabbing his hand as they started walking back to the school. “You can swing tomorrow, and I’ll push you the whole time.” He meant it, too.

“Thanks.” He was still upset, but not enough to let go of his friend’s hand. This made Link happy, and he nudged him with his shoulder to try and get him to cheer up. Rhett laughed and pushed back with his own shoulder, and Link’s job was done. Link looked toward their teacher as they got closer to the school, and he could tell that she was staring at them specifically. He had a panicked thought that they had done something they weren’t supposed to do, and he felt his face get hot all of a sudden.

Ms. Parker stopped them once they got to the doors with a hand on Rhett’s shoulder, looking down at the two of them with a little crease between her eyebrows. “Now what are you two doin’ holdin’ hands like that?” she questioned sharply, her heavy drawl seeming more pronounced. She sounded real angry to Link, who looked down at their clasped hands, trying to find something wrong with them.

“What’s wrong with them?” he asked, confused.

She huffed out a breath of air, looking up to the sky and shaking her head of large gray curls, mumbling something under her breath that Link didn’t quite catch. “Boys do not hold other boys hands,” she scolded. A long look from her wrinkled old face made Rhett and Link drop their hands to their sides quicker than Link had spun around on that swing. He was still confused but didn’t want to do anything that would get him in more trouble.

“I don’t want to see it happenin’ again, you hear me boys?” Ms. Parker asked as they stayed quiet. They both nodded, Link looking down at his shoes and Rhett off to the side. “Good. Now get back inside. Class is about to start.”

Link didn’t go over to Rhett’s house that day.

~

“I’m a bit nervous,” Link admitted, biting his thumb nail. He held his roller skates in his other hand and had little intention of putting them on.

Rhett pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and hit Link’s shoulder lightly with the back of his hand. “Come on, man. It’s not gonna be that bad. Plus, you’re gonna need to know how to skate for the seventh grade dance here in a couple months.”

Link set the skates down next to the bench he sat on, saying, “Yeah, but you gotta remember this is the _very first_ time I’ve ever done this. I don’t know anything about skating. You do!” Link felt like if he stepped out in that rink, all eyes would definitely be on him—the rookie holding on to the bannister and falling right on his butt. Just thinking about it made his face heat up slowly in embarrassment.

He felt Rhett sit down on the bench next to him and looked over when his friend cleared his throat, saying, “Exactly. _I_ know how to skate. So, I’m gonna help you.” Rhett smiled and started tying his own skates quietly.

Link continued to stare at him, avoiding putting on his skates. He wanted to say something along the lines of not needing Rhett’s help, but that was ridiculous even to him. Letting his friend help him out was not going to squash his dignity.

“Link!” Rhett snapped when the brunet had made no move to kick off his sneakers. “Put your skates on, I don’t wanna be waitin’ for you here all day.”

Link let out a loud, exasperated sigh and reached down to put on the skates. They were odd-fitting on his feet and felt tighter than they probably needed to be. Rhett had already stood up by the time Link had finished. “Come on,” the blond said, motioning with his hand.

The skates rolled underneath him awkwardly when Link went to stand up, and he fell back down against the bench. “Whoa,” he mumbled. “Help me up, man.”

He saw Rhett roll his eyes a little bit, but he caught himself before snapping that he hadn’t done this before and to give him a break. Link grabbed onto his friend’s outstretched hand and was pulled up quite easily with his help.

“Your hands are clammy.”

“I told you, I’m nervous.”

He made his way over to the bannister slowly, holding on as he swung himself around to the other side of the wall and into the rink. The wooden floor was much slicker than the carpet, and he quickly decided against letting go of the railing. Rhett rolled up next to him.

“You’re not gonna leave me alone out here, are you?” he asked nervously. He didn’t want to slow him down, but he really didn’t want to struggle by himself. He had been worried about that happening, especially when Rhett’s parents had decided to just drop them off with the money for entrance instead of staying and skating with them.

Rhett shrugged nonchalantly. “If you don’t want me to, then no,” he said, skating slowly to the wall and laying a hand on the bannister. Link felt relief rush through him. “Plus, I already told you I was gonna help, right?”

“Oh yeah,” he said dumbly, then laughed a little. “Sorry.”

Rhett laughed, too, shaking his head. “Whatever, man. Come on.” He started to skate along with the flow of people at a slow pace, continuing to look back and make sure Link was following and doing okay. The rink wasn’t terribly crowded, which put Link a little more at ease, but he could still feel anxiety in the pit of his stomach as he concentrated on what he was doing.

He felt a bit shaky on the wheels, but holding on to the wall beside him helped greatly in keeping him from falling. Rhett constantly watching him skate, though, was not. “You don’t have to stare at me,” he said, looking down at the floor passing underneath him.

“Just making sure you’re okay,” his friend replied confusedly, sounding slightly annoyed as well. It was silent for a little while, and Link could tell every time he looked up that Rhett just wanted to be able to skate a little faster than the slow pace he was keeping them at.

Link sighed, “Hey, I’ll be okay for a bit, you can go ahead and do your own thing.”

There was a pause. “You sure?”

“Yeah, s’fine, man.”

It was a tad more unsettling without someone by his side, not because of his lack of prowess in roller skates but because now that he was alone, it felt like there were way more people looking at him do terribly. He wouldn’t look up from the skates, and tried to focus.

Rhett came up beside him a minute later, bumping into his shoulder as he tried to slow down. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Link wobbled at the sudden force on one side, but managed to reach out and grab the bannister before anything drastic happened. “Goodness,” he said under his breath. “I think I’m doing a bit better, though.” He was starting to feel like it wasn’t all that bad, just like Rhett had said before they came out here. Maybe he was nervous for nothing.

“Push off the railing, then,” Rhett challenged.

Link only hesitated for a couple of seconds. Not wanting to seem like a wuss, he pushed himself off and glided backwards a little bit until he came to a stop a good five feet away from his crutch. He felt weirdly naked with nothing to hang on to, but wanted to act cool. “There!” he said, putting his hands on his hips and exaggerating a prideful, upturned look.

Rhett raised an eyebrow. “Now skate.”

He rolled forward for about two seconds before feeling that quick, rollercoaster flip in his stomach as he immediately lost his balance and started falling backwards. To catch himself, he reached out for the wall that was no longer there, and landed straight on his tailbone.

Link felt a sharp pain from how he landed, but above that, he could feel his face burning. The only person who was laughing was Rhett, though, which wasn’t as bad as everyone in the rink jeering at him. He expected Rhett to laugh. “Help me up, man,” he pleaded, trying and failing to push himself up, the skates continuing to slip out from underneath him every time he thought he’d had it.

It took Rhett a moment to stop laughing long enough to reach down and grab Link’s hands, carefully making sure he didn’t fall back down and bring Rhett with him. “Your hands are still clammy,” he commented through his continued laughter.

Link wiped his palms against his jeans and said, “Well I’m freakin’ embarrassed.” He didn’t dare look at anyone else passing by them, not wanting to know if they had seen his tragic mishap.

Rhett stopped laughing at that, moving forward a little to poke Link in the shoulder. “Don’t be so grumpy, Linkster,” he said. A pause. “Fine, I’m sorry for laughing. I get it, roller skating is hard trying for the first time.” He held out his hand, palm up. “I’ll actually help this time.”

Link stared down at the offered hand, brows furrowed in a multitude of emotions. “Well I don’t need to hold your hand,” he murmured.

“Oh, what, you’d rather link arms instead? Just hold my hand, dude, it’ll make all this easier,” Rhett huffed, impatient.

“Fine, fine!”

He was more self-conscious about holding his best friend’s hand than he was about falling backwards at that point, but of course, Rhett was right. Using Rhett’s own momentum, he was able to follow the movements he was supposed to be making and feel like he was able to actually balance in these death shoes on wheels.

Rhett’s hand was heavy in his own, though, and very prominently _there_ , but the boy himself didn’t seem as unsettled about the touch as Link did. Boys didn’t hold other boys’ hands when roller skating, boys held girls’ hands.

After a couple times around the rink, he looked up from his feet and noticed with dread that there were a few older kids that kept looking over at them and muttering to their friends. Link hastily pulled his hand out of Rhett’s, and was able to continue skating by himself. He would have felt better about his accomplishment if under different circumstances, but right now all he wanted to do was get out of there. He skated over to the wall and left the rink hurriedly, sitting down on the closest bench and starting to untie his skates.

He was halfway through his second skate when Rhett came up to him. “Dude, what happened? You were doin’ just fine!” he exclaimed, sounding a tad annoyed. He’d been sounding annoyed a lot lately, and Link briefly felt guilty.

“Please, Rhett, I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just go.”

They had to wait outside the building until Rhett’s parents came to pick them up at the agreed upon time, and it was mostly spent with Rhett pestering him about why he had stormed off so quickly. Link really didn’t want to talk about it, ever again.

The car ride home was quieter than usual.

~

“What the hell are we doin’, man?” Link whined as the water level started to come up past his bare ankles.

Rhett didn’t turn around, too focused on watching where he put his feet to do so. “Link, I already told you! There’s supposed to be this really old and abandoned shack or whatever in the middle of the woods over there,” he explained. Again.

He had been skeptical of this so-called shack ever since Rhett first told him about it. Surely no one would ever have lived out here. There were no roads that led this close to the river, let alone that far into the trees on the other side of it.

“And where did you hear this, again?”

“I don’t know, just some people were talking about it during lunch. I overheard it.”

Link wished his friend could see the deadpan look he was giving the back of his head. He wouldn’t have been so against checking this thing out if it didn’t include having to cross the damn river. He was not too keen on getting his pants wet—he didn’t know how deep this part of the river got, and the jeans he’d worn today could only go up to his knees. “Well, I hope it’s real, and this ain’t all for nothin’.”

The water was a bit of a relief from the heat of the day, though. He could tell summer was going to be rough, if the last couple of days were anything to go by. His forehead was already beading with sweat as he tried to keep his balance on the slick rocks underneath. The current wasn’t helping him out either, continuing to change speeds without warning. He could tell Rhett was having a bit of a harder time though, thanks to his height.

He had his arms fully extended on either side, yet even when he seemed to be carefully placing his feet on the more secure rocks, he was wobbling quite a bit. He also had stumbled into deeper water, which wasn’t helpful when trying to find his footing.

“You’re not gonna fall are you?” Link asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over rushing water all around them. “Because that would be hilarious.”

Rhett continued walking as he yelled back at him, “Nope! I’ve got everything under control here. Just…oh gosh…” he trailed off as he stepped into a narrow channel of white water.

Link looked down at his own feet to make sure he himself didn’t fall, so he didn’t see what initiated the sudden outburst that came from Rhett. He did, however, look up in time to see him falling backward into the river, arms waving wildly and one foot kicked up in the air. And it really was hilarious.

It was hard to control his laughter when he’d just witnessed his best friend practically fall over in slow motion. Yet, Link hurried over to where Rhett was now sitting in the river, making sure to pull up the legs of his pants some more as the water got deeper.

“Are you okay, man?” he laughed.

Rhett’s face was one of exasperated amusement as he looked up at Link, the water that rushed around him coming up to his elbows. “It’s a bit cold,” he stated simply, then started laughing as well.

Link was able to help his soggy friend back up, somehow not slipping back into the water with him. “Dude, I can’t believe that just happened,” he said. “Right after I brought it up!”

Rhett laughed even harder at that, eyes squinting up and grabbing Link’s shoulder to steady himself. “Ugh, I know.”

“You still wanna keep going?” Link questioned, shrugging Rhett’s hand off his shoulder to keep his shirt from getting even wetter.

He seemed to think about it for a short second, catching his breath from both falling and laughing. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, let’s do it, I’ll be fine,” he said, nodding for added emphasis.

Before Link’s brain could catch up to his mouth, he said, “Alright well, I don’t want you falling again, so hold my hand and we’ll walk the rest of the way together.”

There was a beat of silence, slightly awkward and very weighted, but he didn’t try to take back what had already come out of his mouth. It would have been much too telling for his comfort. Rather, he opened his mouth to turn it into some mocking statement, but Rhett cut him off.

“Okay, sure,” he replied, quietly and slightly unsure. He grabbed Link’s wrist and slid his hand down into the brunet’s, fingers not interlaced but rather loosely cupped around each other’s palms. “Thanks.”

Link could tell his face was turning red, so to divert any attention to the situation he began trudging through to the other side without saying anything else. It didn’t take long, the water much shallower on the far half of the river. Shallow enough to where Rhett wouldn’t need to hold on to him for support, but neither boy made the move to let go.

Link didn’t drop his hand out of Rhett’s grasp until they were safely on the opposite shore, and he immediately bent down to push his jeans back into place. His hand was sweaty, or maybe just wet from Rhett’s fall, and he kind of wished he hadn’t said anything in the first place.

“Um, so I heard that it isn’t very far from here,” Rhett said, jolting Link from his thoughts. It was too loud, sounding like he was forcing a conversation that wasn’t supposed to be there. Link understood, and he went along with it.

They had walked through the forest for a good twenty minutes. Link’s shoes and pants were covered in stickers and he’d already gotten a scratch on his arm from where he sideswiped a thorn bush. He was starting to think he’d been right about this from the beginning, and this abandoned shack in the middle of the woods didn’t exist. “Rhett, are you sure that it wasn’t just a couple seniors pulling a prank?” he said, pushing branches away from his face.

“They only do that to freshmen.”

“One year’s difference isn’t gonna matter to them.”

Rhett stopped walking, then. He was sweating terribly, and had a smattering of stickers all over his clothes as well. He sighed. “I don’t know, man. I mean, I guess they could, but that’s hardly a prank if they don’t even know if anyone came out here to check, y’know?”

“Well, maybe it’s just a rumor,” Link guessed. “But even if it _is_ real, we’re gonna have a hard time finding anything in this thick mess,” he gestured generally toward the trees about them.

Rhett sighed thinly through his nose, shoulders slumping a fraction. “You’re right.”

Link just looked up at him.

“Sorry for bringing you out to see nothing,” he apologized. “Let’s head back.”

As they walked, Link tried to reassure his friend that he didn’t need to apologize for dragging him out here. He always liked going on these spur of the moment events with Rhett, even if the trip wasn’t as worthwhile as either of them thought it would be. It was like an adventure.

They made it back to the river in roughly the same spot of the bank where they’d came out on. Both were sweating profusely as the day grew even hotter, and Link desperately welcomed walking through the cool water again.

“Gosh, I just want to swim in here,” he murmured.

Rhett looked over at him. “We could do that,” he said nonchalantly, shrugging. “I mean, we didn’t really get to do anything fun. This was not a success, at all. You can’t argue with me on that. And I’m hot as hell right now. I’d much rather walk back wet from swimming than sweating.”

Link thought about it, but it didn’t take long for him to agree. It was terribly hot.

They walked back to the other side of the river first, so that when they were ready to leave their clothes would be on the correct side. Link thought of keeping his shoes on in case of unknown things on the bottom of the river, but kicked them off when he saw Rhett do the same. Everything else besides their boxers came off, and even though there was nobody else around, he felt vaguely naked.

The water felt great. They waded upriver before reaching a much deeper portion of the river, where the current slowed down to a mere crawl. Link could barely touch without his mouth going under the surface, but Rhett had no problem.

They each relaxed and swam around the basin on their own for a while, before Rhett called from where he stood a few feet away, “Come over here, check this out.” He was holding something underneath the water, staring down at it.

Link kicked over to him and managed to find a large boulder on the bed for him to stand on. “What is it?” he asked, peering through the murky water at whatever was in Rhett’s hand.

“Wait, wait,” he brought a small rock out of the water before Link had a chance to take a good look at it, then held it out for him to see. “Okay, what does this look like?”

Link furrowed his brow in confusion. “It looks just like any old rock?” The rock was palm-sized, a bit flat, and mottled brown and gray. Nothing special, just any old rock you’d find at the bottom of any old river.

Rhett smiled. “That’s what it wants you to think,” he said. “Here, put it in the water.”

Link took the stone from him, unsure if Rhett was just trying to fool with him. But, when he dipped it just underneath the surface, it turned a dark algae green, with a bright white mark that resembled one of those fern-like fossils. It looked as if it’d been stamped right on there. The corner of Link’s mouth twitched up as he turned it over and back again in his hands. “Huh, yeah, that’s pretty neat,” he muttered, almost to himself.

Rhett’s hands came up to cup the backs of his own, almost like they were holding the stone together, and Link started. He glanced up quickly to see if Rhett was looking at him, but the blond had begun talking about his thoughts on how it could possibly change colors to look like that. He didn’t even seem to notice anything, so Link stayed where he was, listening to his outrageous explanations and laughing at the absurdity of most of them. When Rhett finally dropped his hands back down, the water felt cold around his own.

They stayed at the river until the sun started to sink toward the tree line. The day was spent racing against each other to see who the fastest swimmer was, jumping off of low-lying tree limbs that hung over the edge of the river, and completely forgetting the original reason for coming here. He had had a great time, but Link had been slightly out of it, too preoccupied with some things on his mind.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

~

“Goodnight Rhett, see you in the morning,” Link said from the bunk above his friend.

“Goodnight,” Rhett answered.

They had spent the day moving in to the freshman dorms and familiarizing themselves with the campus. After taking a good few hours to unpack all of their belongings, another hour or so shopping for all the necessities, and having to go through the whole ordeal of saying goodbye to their parents who just didn’t want to leave, it had been quite a long day.

Moving away from home and into college is always a nerve-wracking time, and Link had felt anxious the whole day. The only thing that had made this day worse than it already was, was the fact that they had waited until the last day to move in. This didn’t give them enough time to get fully situated and adjusted to their new life before classes started the next morning.

Link had been awfully worried about starting his first semester with very little knowledge going into the next day, but he made sure to calm himself before heading to bed. He had printed out his schedule, triple checked that he had his books and supplies already in the backpack, and wrote down where each of the halls were as well as how long it would take for him to walk there.

He hadn’t noticed any edginess coming from Rhett, though. The blond had seemed perfectly fine throughout the entire day, and Link envied him a little bit because of that.

It didn’t take long for him to fall into that state between conscious and unconscious, but he was tugged away from sleep suddenly when a hand lightly shook his shoulder. Link opened his eyes and saw Rhett standing there peering back at him through the dark of the room.

“What?” Link asked, miffed at being woken up but wanting to give his friend the benefit of the doubt.

Rhett seemed to hesitate before saying, “Um, I-I’m kind of nervous.”

It was then that Link registered the uncertainty on Rhett’s face, and he creased his brow in confusion. _Where did this come from,_ he thought. _He was fine all day!_ Nonetheless, he probed, “What’s wrong?”

“About tomorrow.” Rhett shuffled his feet where he stood next to the bunks and watched his own fingers pick at Link’s comforter. “We don’t have any classes together until Thursday, and I don’t really know what I’m gonna do tomorrow without you.”

Link felt a twitch in his heart. He sat up in his bed, the blankets pooling at his waist. “Come here,” he murmured.

Rhett didn’t say anything as he climbed the ladder up into the top bunk. Link moved the covers over and made room for his friend to sit underneath them. “Where did this come from? You’ve been acting fine all day, man,” he commented, mirroring his thoughts from earlier.

Rhett shook his head, saying, “Well I guess I just wasn’t thinking about all of it very much.” He paused, continuing to look down at his crossed legs. “Everything kinda just hit me all of a sudden.” The last sentence was spoken so softly, he had to lean closer to hear it.

Link felt a sudden rush of protectiveness for his friend. He noticed a worry in Rhett’s eye and grabbed his hand from where it rested against the mattress. “Hey, look at me. Everything’s gonna be fine. I mean, you know me, I’m the most anxious person in the world.” He laughed, and Rhett smiled. “If I can do this, then there ain’t no doubt in my mind that you can too, okay brother?”

Rhett gave an appreciative grin. “Okay,” he whispered. He looked down to where their hands were still clasped and squeezed a ‘thank you’ through the grip. Link blushed.

They sat like that for a while, talking about nothing at all. Rhett’s hand was warm in Link’s own, and as he stayed holding on, not caring about what it meant, he was reminded of when they were much younger. Link smiled to himself.

As the night wore on, Link realized that it was becoming harder and harder to keep his eyes open. One half of his brain told him he need to sleep for his classes tomorrow, but a stronger half wanted to stay awake and continue to hold on to Rhett, for reasons he still wasn’t completely confident of.

When there was a pause in their conversation, he said, “Hey, I think it may be time to go to sleep.”

Rhett bit his lip and looked down once again. “Can I stay up here?” he asked demurely.

Link looked at him, trying to understand the weight behind the words. He was unsure. “Wouldn’t you rather sleep in your own bed?” he tested. “You’ll just be squashed if you stay here.”

“No, I…I want to stay with you.” He looked up into Link’s eyes, and held the gaze.

Link smiled faintly, and of course he let him stay. They laid shoulder to shoulder on their backs, and a minute later Link felt Rhett’s hand come down and reclaim his own. He didn’t say anything, but threaded their fingers together underneath the sheets and went to sleep with a warm feeling deep in his chest.

When he awoke the next morning, Rhett was back in his own bed.

~

“Make sure you put a hat on,” Link said, leaning against the front door and watching Rhett put on his shoes and coat.

Rhett smirked at him. “Yes, mom,” he drawled in a childlike voice, taking his grey toboggan off the hooks that hung near the door.

“Now y’all be careful out there!” Diane mentioned as she walked past the pair on her way back to the kitchen. Rhett rolled his eyes subtly and repeated, “Yes, mom,” in a more serious tone.

Link giggled at the exchange and pushed off the door once he was sure Rhett was finished getting ready. “Come on, brother,” he said as he opened the front door and walked out into the freezing air.

They had stayed at Rhett’s mother’s house for Christmas this year and had planned on going back home to their own apartment a couple days after the holiday was over, but she had insisted they stay until new years at least. Since both men had vacation until a few days into January, they had agreed. Now that the last day of the year had come around, they would be able to leave the next day.

“It’s so cold!” Rhett exclaimed breathlessly as he closed the door behind him. The man pulled his hat farther down on his ears and shoved his hands deep in his coat pockets.

Link gave a half-smile. “Yes, Rhett. It’s winter,” he quipped mockingly. “And we got a while to walk, so I don’t wanna hear no more complaining about the weather.”

Rhett belted out a laugh, his breath billowing into the night air. “Whatever, man, let’s go.”

They had come up with the brilliant idea to hike up the nearby cliffs in order to witness the fireworks show that was being held in town. Because neither had wanted to pay for a ticket and the view would be better up high than on the ground, they believed it wasn’t such a bad plan. In theory, the plan was perfect. In action, not so much.

Neither man had thought to bring a flashlight to guide their way through the dark, and even with the winter gear they donned, it was cold. It took them longer than anticipated to make it up to the top of the cliff, and by the time the two arrived, Link could no longer feel his nose, cheeks, or fingers.

“Can I c-c-complain now?” Rhett asked, teeth chattering in the middle of the question.

Link laughed. “Sure.”

He checked the time on his phone and was relieved when they still had a good ten minutes until midnight. The precipice was sturdy enough to hold their weight without the lip crumbling off, and he sat down with his legs dangling off the edge, kicking out like a child. “Come sit with me,” he said when Rhett continued to stand there with his hands on his hips.

Rhett left a couple inches between their bodies when he sat down, and Link sighed out of his nose. “What time is it?” the blond asked after seconds of silence.

Link checked again. “Eleven fifty-one.”

“Nine minutes.”

“You can count!”

Rhett chuckled lightly and kicked Link’s foot. “Shut it.”

Link nudged Rhett’s side with his elbow and stared up at him. His features were obscured in the darkness, but his eyes caught and reflected the soft moonlight dimly. Link’s heart somersaulted.

“You’d think your mom would want us there when it turns midnight,” he commented off-handedly. Rhett just ‘hmphed’ in a way to show his own uncertainty.

The wind picked up and seeped through his layers of clothing, causing him to shiver. “My hands are so cold,” he complained, tugging them out of his pockets and blowing into them to try and warm them up. “I can’t feel my fingers at all right now.”

“Here.”

Link’s hands were surrounded by Rhett’s and pulled down from his mouth slowly. It wasn’t any better, as Rhett’s hands were as ice cold as his, but it was pleasant. He was glad Rhett couldn’t see his blush through the darkness.

“U-um, this, ah, isn’t any better,” Link stuttered.

Rhett hummed. “Want me to let go?”

“Not really,” he answered honestly, cringing prematurely at the supposed response.

Rhett let out a soft laugh. “Good.”

Link relaxed in light surprise and looked up to see those eyes on him. He averted his own gaze quickly by checking his phone again. “We’ve got, uh, like, um, t-two minutes.”

Rhett shifted their hands so they rested atop his thigh, and Link suddenly noticed the warmth that was building between them. He felt too much, too suddenly. It was overwhelming, because Rhett was acting so much like Link himself had acted through all these years. He was scared. He’d grabbed and held on to the idea long ago that nothing would change. That he would continue to harbor this terrifying feeling toward his best friend, and that Rhett would stay oblivious. A squeeze of his hand, though, grounded him through these fearful thoughts.

“I think it’s about to start,” Rhett said.

Link didn’t answer, but watched the night sky in anticipation. A moment later, a white light streamed upward and burst in a loud bang.

White, red, yellow, blue fireworks lit up the sky as the two watched from their hidden perch. The lights allowed Link to see Rhett much better than before, and when he looked over at him he found the man was staring back. “They’re quite beautiful,” Rhett murmured.

Link wondered if he’d even glanced at the show. “Y-yeah, they are.” He smiled warmly as a yellow burst lit them up, because despite his fear and anxiety, he still loved him deeply. “Happy new year, Rhett.”

Rhett smiled and looked toward the fireworks. “Happy new year, Link.”

He continued to watch his friend as the colors danced across his face. He moved his hand, intertwining their fingers to tighten the grip, and shifted closer until their sides were touching from shoulder to knee. He felt Rhett lean against him and had to bite his lip to keep from ginning wildly. It didn’t seem as cold as before. They sat like that as the fireworks came to a close, and they were plunged into darkness once more.

The new year would be a good one.


End file.
